Discovering Lemon Drops
by Twilts
Summary: A teenage Albus Dumbledore discovers his love for lemon drops with the help of an emotional girl. AlbusElladora Oneshot.


**A/N:** This was written for a dare over at the Unknowable Room. Crys' dare was: "I DARE you to write a fic with exactly 1234 words about how Dumbledore discovered his taste for lemon drops." It's 1234 words starting with "Nonchalant" after the title. Hope this worked… it was really weird to write 'ol Albus as a kid. Tell me how it worked!

**Lemon Drops** By _T_wilts

Nonchalant.

Albus liked that word, and the sight of the word in his book was enough to make his eyes crinkle in amusement. For some reason, it seemed very much so a word that would describe him, so sophisticated and leather-jacketed-bad-boy-ish in one word that he knew it must be Italian in origin. Or it deserved to be, in any case.

He was in a fantastic mood, and after an afternoon of thrilling Quidditch matches (a sport which, while he might not be able to play, he loved to watch), he'd say he was a little too energetic in this moment for the library. He couldn't quite expend that energy through his famous eye-twinkles, either. He'd tried.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was in an odd state. Meaning mentally and socially, though Hogwarts was indeed a strange place. Those who knew him did _not _know him for being one to study in the library, but rather, one who _lived _in the library. He was so ridiculously advanced for his age that seeing him in the library served as an explanation for the other students, though Albus knew it was just a nice quiet place to think. Albus, however, didn't like to be thought of as a bookworm or something horrid like that, so he hid behind books about pranks and theory of fabled love potions. He was practical and knew that love potions should be something he was interested in.

Which, surprisingly or not, he actually was. However sad it might've been, Albus wasn't like other teenage boys that really just wanted to get into a girl's pants. No, he was bereft of those particular hormones. Albus preferred to think he'd enjoy a lovely, long-lasting relationship, and if love potions were the way to go, who should complain? It wasn't as though he'd get _the_ girl any other way. _The_ girl had very indefinite and impractical emotions, so he could never know for sure what she was thought of him.

Sighing, Dumbledore went over the reasons, _once again_, of why this particular girl would be well put to go out with him. 1, he was smart and a good conversationalist, 2, he was amusing to a certain extent. He'd keep her happy and laughing. 3, he had dashing auburn hair that was purposely ruffled, and eyes that twinkled with life of their own volition. It was as though he'd almost too _much_ liveliness, so she could rest assured she'd never be bored. She was nice, too, so they'd get along well. 4, wishing for a lasting relationship was a feminine aspect, so that meant he was _very _sensitive. 5, he had an aura of power or intimidation or something like that, so he'd properly scare away all creeps that needed scaring away. Number five, while it had caused him a lot of problems, was fine because she was one of the few people who weren't afraid of him. 6, he….

"Bloody hell, he's listing again, isn't he?" Elladora Black bemoaned into the thick silence of the library. Albus would know her voice anywhere, though this time it sounded bitter. "When's he bloody going to realize that _listing_ his positive attributes is not something that's going to convince that mystery girl he's liked for so long?"

"Oh, don't stop him yet! 'e's at that 'aura' part… look how 'e's wilting like that…! Don't stop 'im before he gets to the 'I can tap dance' part. 'e always does that unconscious clapp'n thing with 'is feet there." Ozzie Beamish's voice cracked through the air like a whip, his Cockney accent making the dictionary beside Albus give a squeak of indignance.

Albus chose to react with a 'you-can't-touch-me,' aloof expression, and raised his eyes at Ozzie. "At least my tap dancing won't scare away the poor English Language books! We've really got to work on that accent."

Ozzie rolled his amber eyes, "And we've got to work on your comebacks, mate."

"Although, then we'd have to get him properly angry, you know," Elladora said, flipping her black hair over her shoulder. Albus noticed she'd gone with shock-purple highlights this time, meaning she'd be a bit more eccentric than normal today. As only a quarter of a Metamorphagus, her hair color changed depending on her mood. For that reason, it was best never to get on her bad side, or it would change literally to fire when she looked at you. It was always difficult, too, because during her "visit from the devil," as Albus called it, Elladora was about as moody as a pregnant woman with bipolar disorder. Her appearances then depended very much so upon how amusing Albus and Ozzie could be.

On a normal day, though, Elladora returned to what Albus considered her simply bewitching long brown curls and crystal blue eyes.

"It's not possible, 'Dora! We 'ave tried, y'know!" Ozzie cried, and he stood up abruptly, and began to pace as though it was something he'd discussed and puzzled over for hours at a time. Which, now that Albus thought about it, he probably had. Angering Albus had been the one thing that had brought the ridiculously dotty Hufflepuff, Ozzie, and the bewitching Elladora Slytherin Black together. Albus was like a light that attracted flies, and these were the two that weren't afraid of his infamous 'power' aura.

Albus grinned lazily, and propped his feet up against the table, tipping his chair onto the back two legs, and watched Ozzie's dramatic act with a decidedly nonchalant expression.

And then he noticed Elladora's hair changing rapidly from its eccentric black and purple to a sorry greenish brown, the worst color in the world. And then he remembered that Elladora's ex-boyfriend had practically paced a whole through the floor in sheer nervousness when he was breaking up with her. He had known about her fire-breathing personality. Elladora hadn't been with anyone since, and she'd missed having a boyfriend. Exchanging looks with Ozzie, he knew it was time for them to break out the candy. Ella loved candy, and that along with Albus' soothing tactics always helped.

Ozzie stood up quietly, pulling a suspicious packet out of his back pocket, and set it on the table. He mouthed an explanation to Albus: _These are from my cousin… delicious!_

Scrambling in a manner that was completely nonchalant, of course, Albus cracked the packet open, and a wild scent of lemons oozed out into the air. Elladora opened her eyes, having sensed the presence of candy, and grabbed the packet, pouring the tiny yellow-gold circles into her palm.

"Ella, you know any guy would be lucky to have you, right?" Albus said, looking at the girl with a serious expression. She looked at him and sighed.

"Not the one I want." It was like a stab through his heart to hear her say that. Believe it or not, _the_ girl Albus was crazy for what the one sitting in front of him, who _was_ crazy.

"Well than you'll have to go and get him yourself." Albus said, raising an eyebrow in a challenge to her, watching her pop a lemon drop into her mouth. She looked at him for a second, tipping her head to the side, looking unsure. Her hair turned a nervous and energized blonde.

"Okay then."

She kissed him, and Albus tasted lemon drops for the first time. And then he realized he loved everything about them.


End file.
